The Chernobyl Zone

The events, which had happened on this territory, changed the course of our civilization. In the dark night of April 26, 1986, reactor 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded and fired a scorching-hot fountain of radiation into the environment. In several weeks Chernobyl radiation traveled with the winds all over the world, making the idiocy of then-probable nuclear war plain obvious, and thus leading to the cease of nuclear confrontation of two then-superpowers – the USSR and USA.

Because of radiation contamination a large territory around the nuclear power plant was depopulated, hundreds of thousands of inhabitants left that area – and twice as many people were sent to the Zone to decontaminate it and mitigate the consequences of the explosion. Material signs of this war with radiation are impressive indeed.

Freed in the Zone from human pressure and left to itself, the power and diversity of natural forces is now in full swing.

Abandoned islands of civilization – two towns, settlements and villages, tens of thousands of former human dwellings in total – are engulfed by proliferating vegetation and wildlife.

Radiation makes the Zone particularly interesting. Despite being invisible, the presence of radiation in the central part of the Zone in amounts, exceeding natural background, may be the Zone’s most valuable cultural memorial. Now at the ground level, in thousand times decreased scale, lies the picture of contamination after the vast Chernobyl radiation incident. This picture is extremely intricate, interesting and representative for radiation or chemical accidents – and, fortunately, already safe for visitors.

Where else can one learn what should or shouldn’t be feared in now-quite-probable radiation accidents and terrorist attacks? How to avoid radiation injuries? What is the natural phenomenon of radiation in general, how does it spread in environment?

The Chernobyl Zone– as a site of the important historical event, as an ensemble of hundreds of unique technical and cultural monuments, as a natural phenomenon – rightfully deserves inclusion into the UNESCO list of the world heritage sites and conversion into the national cultural and natural park.